Another day in the office

Greetings all,
I hope you enjoyed the footy finals! I can't say I was surprised the Cats won, however I have no doubt the bombers will be on top in 2010! Look out!!! The airport in Nepal was actually screening the match. Our flight was delayed by 30 minutes which was convenient for me because it meant I was able to watch the ending! It was a pleasant dose of Aussie-ness that I've really missed since leaving home.

I have now exceeded the 6 month mark in Doha which has zipped by. I'm convinced that the combination of travelling between time zones, shift work and general irregularity of our day-to-day lives with no set routine really makes us lose track of time. I'll often have no idea what day of the week it is, but I'll always know the date. Next time you fly ask the crew what day it is and see if they know! I'm telling you they will have to think about it. However if you ask them the flight number, aircraft registatration, the name of the Captain or anything relating to the flight they will know, but if you ask them what day it is they'll nearly always draw a blank.

I have flown to some fabulous destinations over the past few weeks. I spent 4 days in Saigon, Vietnam which was extraodinary. All the crew went out one day on a tour to the Cu Chi tunnels, which were used as hiding spots by the Viet Cong guerrillas. We were able to climb through the tunnels which had been widened for tourists, but it was still narrow and not for the faint hearted or suffers of claustrophobia. I somehow made it the whole 100m underground, often having to crawl on my hands and knees while not being able to see what was in front of me. The most challenging part was the heat inside the tunnel, as there isn't a whole lot of air circulation down there and it gets quite warm. I have no idea how they built the tunnels, but I was most impressed because it was like this secret underground world they had going as a hideout for survival.
We were also shown some of the man made traps the Vietnamese used which were rather brutal but effective. They varied from trap doors to tiger catchers, all aimed at either killing or crippling anything that fell prey.
After that we were shown a massive display case with different rifles that were used during the war. For a small fee you could chose yourself a weapon and fire it. I couldn't miss the opportunity so I selected a beastly looking AK-47 and shot a round of bullets. The sheer force of it was intimidating. It's so powerful and deadly, and the realisation that people use these during wars actually frightened me. Although there certainly was the thrill aspect knowing that I was firing some heavy machinery at a bull's-eye.
They had a swell gift shop which sold a lot of merchandise. I found the perfect gift for my brothers which was a model tank and fighter jet, but customs confiscated them from me on the way out as they told me they contained real bullets. So be warned if you ever plan a trip there!

The next day we went to a day spa and had the pampering of a lifetime. For only US $25 we spent 5 hours being treated like royalty. We started off in a steam room, then moved onto a sauna, then had a full body exfoliation and scrub, a head massage and then a spa bath. After that we were treated to a Thai massage for an hour (which actually involved the little Vienamese women standing on our backs and massaging us with their feet while holding onto poles that hung from the roof), that was followed by a foot massage and pedicure while surfing the net and eating lunch. I have never felt so relaxed and destressed in all my life.

I spent the final day with another crew member at an orphanage for boys in the center of the city. We spent the day playing with them, reading books and just interacting with them. They love visitors so they really made us feel welcomed. The kids were so adorable and varied in age from about 7 - 16. What was most impressive was the guy who runs the place is my age, so my hat really goes off to him as he's doing a great job. We ate lunch with the boys (which consisted of goodness knows what!) and helped them get ready for their afternoon naps. They live in a 4 storey building which sounds large but each floor is the size of a bedroom or two. The 1st floor has the kitchen, the 2nd floor has their classroom where they study, the 3rd floor has their bathroom and they all share a room on the 4th floor. They don't have beds but sleep on a mat on the floor because it keeps them cool during the hot summer nights. The children were so cheerful and adorable that I just didn't want to leave them (sounds like my Uganda days all over again). After we ate lunch they each washed their own bowl and spoon, no one had to tell them to do it and not a single child complained about it. They each took responsibility for themselves and contributed their share to maintaining the place. It was quite a humbling experience seeing these beautiful children demonstrated maturity at such a young age, regardless of all the trials they've been through in their lives.

After Vietnam I was pulled from standby and sent to Colombo in Sri Lanka. I didn't have much time there as I had the short layover which was somewhat disappointing, but I know I'll be back oneday and get to see it. On the way back the automatic saftey video we screen stopped working so we had to do a manual demonstartion which involved standing in the cabin and showing people how to fasten their seatbelts, put on a life jacket and pointing out the emergency exits. I'm sure you've all seen Jetstar crew do it at some stage before, so picture us doing that but having absolutely no clue what we're doing because we never practice. I actually put the life jacket on back to front and didn't realise until I had to display the signal light that is located on the shoulder and couldn't find it!

The next standby I had was great as I was sent to Tunis for 4 days. The Gulf of Tunis is connected to the Mediterranean Sea, so as you can imagine it is a stunning place. I went to Carthage to see some of the old ruins they have, which reminded me a lot of Rome. After that I wandered to Sidi Bou Said which is famous for it's blue and white EVERYTHING! The whole city is colored blue and white which to me gives it a real realxed sea-side feeling. I enjoyed a drink at an outdoor restaurant that overlooked the bay, the scenery was breathtaking and definitely a kodak moment.
I spent the remaining two days relaxing with the girls beside the hotel pool and eating fruit (which tastes fresh unlike the fruit we get in Doha). We had 3 pools to chose from so we opted for the less crowded one. The Captain was from Tunis so he stayed with his family at his house, so I got upgraded to his vacant executive suite in the hotel which was swell.

I just got back from Munich in Germany. For some reason Germany always seems to disappoint me. The food is divine, but outside of that I haven't been really impressed by it. Maybe I'm not going to the right places. Although I must admit whenever I go to Germany or Vienna I always bring back bags of flavored meusli for my breakfast. This time I brought 3 bags back to Doha because you can't find such good quality meusli in Doha (or anywhere else for that matter). Europe food really can't be beaten.

Outside of all the travel I've been doing my life in Doha is going great. Ramadan finished which was a relief. I had to walk past a local mosque on the way to drop off my dry cleaning, and there were people praying on the streets. They actually blocked off one street so that everyone could fit as they like to be as close to the mosque as possible. It's not scary at all, but I do find it a little creepy seeing everyone in their white robes bowing down in unison. But that's over now so everything has gone back to normal here which is nice. I have quite a few friends which really makes living here bearable. It's handy having a lot of friends because it means whenever I have a day off someone else most likely has a day off also so you can catch up. Spending days alone in Doha is not fun, but if you're with at least one other person it's really enjoyable.
A few days ago a group of 8 of us went to the beach in Doha for the first time. The Intercontinental Hotel in Doha has a private beach which looks like a resort you would find in Bali. We alternated between the swimming pools and the bay. Doha is still rather hot which makes the sea water warm, so it felt like we were swimming in a warm bath. If anyone ever makes it to Doha I'll definitely take you to the beach!
I also found a nice park in Doha which has real grass!!! I know that must sound stupid but I'm so used to seeing sand. When my friends and I spotted the grass we jumped with joy! There is a park that has a walking track along a pond, and it even has ducks! It would almost look like something you'd find in Melbourne outside of the multitude of Arabs that go there with their families.
The weather is really starting to cool down now. It's still in the 30's everyday but after a 45+ heatwave 30 is somewhat pleasant. Actually I discovered the other day that for the past 6 months I've confused the hot and cold water taps in my apartment. The cold water tank is on the roof, so the sun has been heating it to a higher temperature than the hot water gets. Crazy!!!

The US have a large military base in Qatar so every now and again I jets take off and fly around. It enjoy watching them as they rapidly maneuver their way around. The takeoff is ridiculously fast, the boeings and airbuses have nothing on them!

The tennis is coming to Doha soon so hopefully I'll get time to see some of the matches as a lot of the big names in Tennis are making their way out here. There are billboards all over the place for it. Next month Brazil and England are playing soccer here so I've requested the day off so I can go check it out so hopefully I'll get that. Actually speaking of soccer some big news amongst crew was that the Beckhams flew with Qatar airways from the Seychelles Islands for their wedding anniversary. I knew one of the crew that was operating that flight so I got all the goss!

Doha seems to be undergoing a lot of construction at the moment. A new airport is being built which is going to be 12 times larger than the one we currently use and will be able to accommodate 8,700 passengers every hour! Also being built is a shopping mall that is 8km long and has over 900,000m square in floor space. They're also building a marine causeway that will connect Qatar to Bahrain. It will be 40km long and will be the longest in the world. The bridge itself will be 22km long. Qataris are definitely trying to get this place on the map, I'm just not sure how long it will take.

In other news Qatar are set to start flying to Melbourne from December 6th, so I'm starting to get excited about setting foot on home soil. It'll be wonderful to see familiar faces and eat a delicious home cooked meal with the family. I'm counting down the days!

I have 5 days off next week, so I'm flying to London to spend it with a mate from Oz who moves over there in a few days. It'll be nice catching up with somone I knew before this job. It's also my birthday at the end of the month so I was fortunate enough to get two flights to London so I can party it up with some old mates who are living there! One of the crew I'm flying with is an Australian friend of mine who lives next door to me, so we're both excited about celebrating my birthday in London together and hitting the town.

That's it for now! Thanks everyone for taking the time to read these and tell me whats been happening back home with all of you!
Being here sometimes makes me feel like I'm missing out on so much back home, but at the same time I get to experience so much by being here. It's a bit of a catch really.

Speak to you all shortly!
Amber
xoxo

---

---